Friday, October 01, 2004

Watched Letterman the other night, and heard something which, if true, is wrong on many many levels, [well, at least two levels, that I can think of]. Dave said that Paris Hilton is trying to trademark the catchphrase "That's hot", because, I suppose, she credits herself with having popularised it. I really hope this is not true. It would significantly reduce my opinion of Paris, which would piss me off because I love to love her. [I really do love her, and Nicole. Especially after the recent episode where the girls stayed with a family called the Skinners, who were horrible hosts except for the youngest son, but were still somehow full of the idea that they were showing the girls some real southern hospitality. Unless I am very much mistaken, however, 'southern hospitality' does not mean 'judgmental and rude'.] Anyway, if indeed Paris is trying to trademark "that's hot", I say puh.

First level of wrongness; it is sooo not the fabulous thing to do. Hmph. Rather poo-ey and anti-fun, and Trump-like. And Nicole says "that's hot" too, so I think it's just rude to sideline her contribution.

Second level of wrongness; Paris' claim is just baseless. And I'm not just saying that. I have proof.

Actually, in a freakish coincidence, the proof was sitting right in my lap at the very moment that Dave said words to the effect of "Paris Hilton is trying to have the catchphrase 'That's hot' trademarked." As soon as I heard that, I went, "Nuh-uh!" Then I looked down at my lap and started flicking through pages until I found one and pointed at it and went, "A-ha!" You see, I had been doing some reading for uni that night which included a piece written by Edmund White in 1980, called The Political Vocabulary of Homosexuality. And to my delight, it was totally relevant to debunking Paris' alleged proposition. Hee! I am totally loving that I find myself in a position to use Edmund White to refute Paris Hilton. I don't know why, but it feels special. Anyway, the relevant bit is this:

"In the past one admired a 'boy' who was 'beautiful' or 'pretty' or 'cute'. Now one admires a man who is 'tough' or 'virile' or 'hot'. Perhaps no other word so aptly signals the new gay attitudes as hot; whereas beautiful in gay parlance characterizes the face first and the body only secondarily, hot describes the whole man, but especially his physique. One may have a lantern jaw or an asymmetrical nose or pockmarked skin and still be hot, whereas the signs of the beautiful face are regular features, smooth skin, suave coloring - and youth. The hot man may even fail to have an attractive body; his appeal may lie instead in his wardrobe, his manner, his style. In this way 'hotness' is roughly equivalent to 'presence' with an accent on the sexy rather than magisterial sense of that word. In addition, hot can, like the Italian simpatico, modify everything from people to discos, from cars to clothing. Gay-chartered cruises promise a hot vacation and designers strive after a hot look. If an attractive man strolls by, someone will murmur, 'That's hot'."

And that's from 1980, people. Paris wasn't even born until 1981. So like, yeah! Sorted. And if you don't think that's proof enough, I offer you a fantastic cheesy movie as further evidence of the pre-Simple Life use and and mass-exposure of "That's hot". Like, I have seen Honey, and hello-o, you sooo don't have the rights to that catchphrase, Paris. It's for everyone.

In other things that are hot, I just found out that Joaquin Phoenix will play Johnny Cash in a movie called Walk The Line. Joaquin as Johnny Cash! Oooh, I think I just had a little spasm. HOT!